An Audacity alternative online —
for one job, not every job

Audacity is a full editor. This is not. That is the point.

An honest Audacity alternative has to start by admitting what Audacity is: a free, complete desktop audio editor. Cutting, splicing, multitrack work, a deep effects list — it does all of it, and this browser tool does none of it. What this tool does is one job: change a song's speed and pitch, add reverb, and export. For that one job, it is faster in ways that are easy to verify.

The one row that decides most cases

It is the preview row. In Audacity, Change Speed and Change Tempo are effects you apply: pick a number, render, listen, undo if wrong, pick again. Finding the right speed for a song is a loop of guesses. Here the slider plays live — you drag from 100% down to 85% and hear every value on the way, then stop. For the specific task of finding how a song sounds at another speed, live preview is not a small convenience; it is the whole workflow.

50-200% covers the whole useful range, live

The tempo slider here runs from half speed to double speed with pitch linked — twelve semitones down at 50%, twelve up at 200% — and every value in between plays as you drag.

That range contains all the common jobs: slowed edits around 80–90%, sped up versions around 115–135%, nightcore above that, and the extremes for effect. Because pitch follows tempo, the result is the classic turntable-style change — the song gets deeper as it slows and brighter as it speeds up. If you need the other behavior, tempo changed while pitch holds still, that is exactly what Audacity's Change Tempo does and this browser tool does not; the free Y2K Player iOS app also moves pitch independently. We would rather route you correctly than stretch the truth.

A craft note on loudness

Neither slowing nor speeding changes a song's level, so resist the urge to add volume after a tempo change. If you add reverb, that does add energy — keep the mix moderate and play the loudest section once before exporting, in this tool or any other.

When you should still use Audacity

A page like this earns trust by sending you away when that is the right call. Use Audacity, not this tool, when:

You need to cut, trim, or splice — this tool changes whole songs and does not edit regions. You need tempo changed while pitch stays put, in the browser-free comfort of your desktop. You need multitrack work, recording, or any effect beyond reverb. Your file is over 50 MB — Audacity has no such cap. You are batch-processing many files — a desktop editor with macros beats dragging files into a web page one at a time. Audacity's learning curve is real, but it buys you an actual editor. If your task is on that list, install it; it is free and it is good.

And when the browser wins

You have one song and one question — how does it sound slower, faster, or with a room behind it — and you want the answer now, on whatever machine is in front of you, including a phone. No install, live preview, free whole-song export. That is the entire pitch, and it is enough for a lot of real work.

The one-job workflow, start to finish

The player at the top of this page starts at 100% — the song exactly as it is — so every change is yours.

1. Drop an audio file onto the player, or press the demo track. Files up to 50 MB work.
2. Press play, then drag the tempo slider. Playback follows live; the pitch readout shows how far the key moves at each speed.
3. Stop where the song sounds right — anywhere from 50% to 200%.
4. Optional: switch on reverb, choose one of the six rooms, and set the mix to taste.
5. Loop a section on the waveform to check the ends of words and the drum edges.
6. Export MP3 or WAV — the whole song at your settings, free. A short spoken note follows the song on free exports; crop it off if you are sharing the file.

Privacy, since Audacity people ask

Desktop users rightly distrust web tools with their audio. This one processes everything locally in the browser. The song never leaves your device — there is no upload step for it to leave through, which you can confirm with your browser's network panel.

You love changing how songs sound? There is a player for that.

This page handles one file at a time. Y2K Player, the music player for iPhone and iPad behind this site, makes changed speed a property of your library instead of a one-off render.

The app saves each song's settings — every track remembers its own tempo and pitch, including pitch moved independently, which the browser tool does not do. Playlists, offline playback, your files on your device, and 1080p video export over visualizers. No account. Free to use. Pro is one payment — forever.